The one who secretly came in for cupcakes must have not said anything about him, because the other two looked shocked, raising their eyes to take in his height, then assessing his muscles. One of them patted his side as if to reassure himself, and Audrey grabbed Erik’s hand, trying to keep him from being too alarming in case there was a gun under his jacket. Erik was impressive by anyone’s standards, but certainly not bulletproof.
“It’s good to see you again, Miss Allen,” the thug in charge said.
She wondered if she’d ever end up knowing their names, and wondered yet again why she cared. For her Christmas card list? She could see the one with the sweet toothed girlfriend surreptitiously seeing what she had left over, and she smirked at him, having purposely not made the strawberry banana.
“I’m sorry if I can’t say the same,” she said.
Was she supposed to offer them the money now? She would be damned, and they stood there staring at one another for an uncomfortable minute.
“How’s business?” the boss asked. “Do you have the first payment ready?” He looked at her pityingly, which turned to surprised admiration when she pulled the fat envelope out from under the cash register.
“Business is great,” she said. “And it’s all there.”
“I’m sure it is,” he said, showily counting it anyway.
Erik grumbled and took a step forward, making him glance up, but not falter in his counting. He must be so secure because that other one has a gun, she thought. What kind of firearms did they have in Erik’s time? Would he even recognize a modern gun as a threat? She prayed they wouldn’t find out.
“Good job,” the thug said, sounding sincerely pleased for her. “I have to admit I didn’t think you were going to make it. I didn’t want to put the screws to you, and I’m glad I don’t have to.”
She gripped Erik’s arm with such force, anyone else would have yelped in pain, but it took all her effort to keep him from advancing on the man again.
“Yes, like I said, the shop’s doing great, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to slow down. This is really a solid business,” Audrey said in a rush when it looked like they would leave without further negotiating. “It’s definitely a sound investment.”
“I’m really glad for you, Miss Allen,” he said, making for the door, his cronies following. “See you in another week.”
Her vision faltered for a second and she grabbed the counter to stay upright. “Wait. Can’t I have some more time for the second payment? A month, at least? I need to pay other bills.”
“But I thought you said business was great? You made this twenty grand no problem.”
She refused to cry in front of them, but couldn’t keep the desperation out of her voice. “It is. That’s why I thought you could give me more time. Because you can see I’m good for it?”
The man chuckled, all his encouraging goodwill gone. “Oh, I’m sorry. When you said this place was a sound investment, did you mean us? That hundred grand isn’t an investment, honey, that’s a debt. And it needs to get paid. Be grateful our boss is letting you make payments at all.”
Before she could beg some more, Erik stepped forward, jerking out of her grip. He grabbed the main mobster by his tie and lifted him so he stood on his toes, still several inches shorter than Erik.
“Audrey says she needs more time. You should give her more time.”
Her fears that the one had a gun were confirmed when he whipped it out, knocking over a chair and pointing it in Erik’s face. Her mind went blank seeing the cold steel barrel just inches from his nose.
“You’re going to want to let him go,” he said, when Erik didn’t release the boss.
“Let him go,” she said, her voice coming out shrill and strangled sounding.
He scowled at her, but let go of the man’s tie with a shove. He stumbled backward into the one with the gun, and in that moment, Erik wrapped his hand around the barrel and forcefully pointed it upward. Sweet tooth’s boyfriend dropped his head in his hands and groaned.
Audrey didn’t know what to do, what command to give, and could only stand there with her eyes trained on Erik, praying he wouldn’t get shot. Main mobster swore, and looked like he might be reaching for his own gun. She tried to warn Erik, but he swiftly punched the man straight in the nose, sending him to the floor, all while keeping his grip on the gun, which the man doggedly would not let go of.
“What is this?” Erik asked, waving the gun above his head, causing the man still clinging to it to jostle back and forth. “You’re not going to use this weapon in a heavily populated area such as this, and you can see I won’t be intimidated by the mere sight of it. Don’t insult me by bringing such a thing in here again.” He roughly jerked the gun so that the man had to let go, and waved for him to help his bleeding friend. “Audrey says she needs a month, so when will you be back here?”
“Listen, you,” main mobster said, holding his hands in front of his nose, blood seeping between his fingers. “You’re going to regret this.” Erik took a menacing step toward him and he quickly scurried to his feet. “Fine, we’ll be back in a month, but you better have at least forty or we won’t go so easy on you.”
Audrey swayed, wondering if this was better or worse. Erik looked to her for confirmation, and she nodded. Anything to get them out.
The first two stomped out, but the third lagged behind. He slapped a twenty dollar bill on the counter.
“Just give me anything,” he said. “Be quick about it.”
“You’re joking,” Erik said, reaching across the counter and punching him.
She shrieked, certain there would be gunshots within the next ten seconds, but the man only rubbed his jaw and winced.
“You’re lucky this guy was here today. They definitely held back because of the God of Thunder here.”
“I’m always here,” Erik said. “Make sure they know that.”
“Yeah, yeah. Now can I please have the cupcakes? Listen, I’ll give one to the big boss tomorrow morning when I see him. Maybe it’ll soften him up a little. It ain’t like we don’t have bigger fish to fry, and your shop is a long way from my house. Traffic’s a real bitch this time of day.”
Audrey’s head spun, not sure if this weaselly man was her ally or not. Softening up the big boss seemed like a plan though, and she packed him a box, then let Erik shove him out the door. She made sure he locked it properly, and sank into one of the armchairs, shocked tears flowing uncontrollably now that they were gone.
She had more time but she also had to come up with forty thousand dollars by then, and she didn’t have any hope at all. Plus, now they were pissed off and sure to come back with bigger, burlier thugs, or more weapons, or maybe they’d just toss a tear gas bomb into the place during business hours to show they weren’t to be messed with. She noticed the gun that Erik hadn’t returned to its owner sitting on the counter and she sobbed harder.
“We did it this time,” Erik tried to soothe her, clearly unnerved by her crying. “We’ll do it again.”
She shook her head miserably. “We only did it this time because I sold my car. I don’t have anything else big like that to sell. And if I get too behind on my other payments, I’m going to lose the house. Then I’m finished.”
She sobbed into her hands. What happened to people who truly couldn’t pay? Would they really break her bones? It seemed so unreal. Her dream had turned into a nightmare. A scary movie she was the star of.
He pulled her to standing and hugged her for a second before saying, “I’m going to clean the bathroom. I’ll be back to check on you when I’m done.”
That did the trick to snap her out of it. She still had to count the money, wipe down the tables, sweep, clean the kitchen, somehow get rid of that criminal’s gun— there wasn’t time for her to sit there bawling.
He looked proud of her, and proud of himself for his little trick of not coddling her.
“You’ll think of something,” he said. “I’d say we need more customers
but it’s hard enough to keep up with the demand as it is. You’re practically chained to the stove.”
She nodded wearily, physically exhausted from the long days they’d been keeping, and emotionally worn out from anxiously waiting for the thugs. She really hated them. An idea lit up like a neon sign in her brain.
“Cookies,” she said. “Cookies are easier to make than cupcakes, we don’t have to wait for them to cool for frosting, and we can charge less for them. Branch out a little bit with something new?” She looked at him for his opinion and his carefully positive expression visibly drooped.
“Does that mean we have to get up at three now?”
She did a mental inventory of the pantry and shook her head. “No, we can make them tonight. Wait until you see how easy they are. We don’t even need to go to the store because I’m sure we have everything for shortbread, and probably chocolate chip.”
She ran to the calculator and did some math, thinking if she charged a dollar a cookie, that would seem like a steal compared to her outrageously priced cupcakes, and she’d still make a profit.
Another knock on the door made her nearly jump out of her skin, but Seda appeared in the front window, waving to show it was her. Audrey opened the door and recruited her to help them out, determined to get a few hours of sleep that night.
After hearing about the mobsters inability to see reason and cut her some slack, then Erik’s brave and foolish standoff with them, Seda agreed to stay and went to clean the kitchen, only mildly complaining about her manicure. She shouted gossip about her current clients while she washed the dishes and Audrey sped through the accounting. After Erik finished cleaning the bathroom they both wiped down the tables, each starting at one corner of the room and meeting in the middle for a quick kiss.
“Does she ever stop talking?” he asked, patting her bottom before finding the glass cleaner to clean the display case.
“It’s kind of soothing when you get used to it,” she said, accustomed to her friend’s chatty ways.
Seda still rambled on loudly about someone insisting on turquoise carpet, and how it ended up looking really fabulous and would probably be the new rage, clearly winded from some sort of exertion. Audrey peeked into the kitchen to see her pushing the mop, and ruefully thought how much faster things went with a third person. Maybe she should start combing auctions for more life size paintings of angry looking men so she could have another helper.
“What’s that look for?” Erik asked, coming up behind her and pulling her close.
She twisted around to lean against his chest, his steady heartbeat making her eyelids droop shut, and her whole body long to lie down with him and drift off to sleep.
“Nothing,” she said guiltily. There really was no one she’d rather have around than Erik. He’d been beyond perfect. “You shouldn’t have been so reckless, though. You could have been shot.”
She felt him shaking his head above her. “Were you worried for me?”
She looked up to see him smiling, of all things, and wanted to punch him in the kidney for scaring her so badly. Still, she did have extra time now, and he was all right, so she wrapped her arms around his waist instead.
“Oh my gosh, have I been slaving away in there while you two are out here doing this?” Seda asked indignantly, a soggy dish towel draped around her neck, her usually impeccable hair a mass of frizz. “I don’t even mop my own house.”
“We just finished two seconds ago,” Audrey said, shoving away from Erik. “If you stay a little longer, there’ll be cookies.”
“I’ll stay,” she said as soon as the sentence was done. “I didn’t have dinner yet so I’m starving.”
Erik’s stomach growled audibly and she realized they hadn’t eaten yet, either. Since she had been slamming cupcakes all day to try and distract herself from the tension of waiting, she still felt slightly ill from all the sugar. Before she could figure out what to get them, Seda waved her phone.
“I’ll order Chinese.”
“Oh, I bet you’ll like that,” Audrey said to Erik. “That’ll be a nice change from all the burgers we’ve been eating.”
She pulled out her old cookie recipes and gave one to Erik, knowing he’d do a good job of it, and the shortbread recipe was only a few ingredients anyway. She’d never won any awards for her cookies, but they were still plenty delicious, and she hoped the customers would like the added variety.
“I’m glad you’re branching out,” Seda said, sitting on the counter beside her as she sifted flour for the chocolate chip batch. “Sometimes people just don’t have the fortitude to eat a whole cupcake, but still want a treat. Just make them normal size, not like those giant ones you see everywhere.”
“You think?” Audrey asked, thinking bigger had to be better.
“Trust me. Moderation is the new decadence. And you’ll make more profit.”
That was a very strong argument, and she rolled the dough into moderate balls, smacking Seda’s hand as she kept sneaking bits out of the bowl.
“I won’t have any profit if you keep that up.”
Erik came over to show her the shortbread dough rolled out neatly in the pan. “This is much easier than cupcakes,” he said.
“What did you do in your old life?” Seda asked him. “You seem like a natural in the kitchen.”
His expression darkened, clearly not wanting to talk about his old life, and Audrey rushed to change the subject, but he put the pan down and said, “I like it here. It almost feels as if I was meant to be in this time somehow.”
Audrey was shocked to hear him say such a thing, and pleased beyond measure. Could that mean he might give up his revenge plan one day? For some reason, this made Seda seem even happier than her, if that was possible. She shot off several more rapid fire questions. What did he like about it? How did it compare? She urged him to be specific, looking like a stern teacher trying to figure out if her student had studied for an exam.
Audrey found it odd how eager she was to hear the answers, as if something important rested on her knowing.
“It’s a challenge like none I have ever faced,” he said, looking uncomfortable. “I only wish I could be of more help to Audrey so she can be done with the moneylenders faster.”
Audrey had to turn around to hide what she was sure was a look of complete despair. She felt like a leaky inner tube someone had stepped on, whooshing out the last bit of air. He only wanted to get out of here as fast as he could. Just because he was enjoying himself didn’t mean it was something he wanted permanently. She fanned her face, her disappointment turning to embarrassment that she could have thought otherwise.
If Seda noticed her discomfort, she kindly ignored it, agreeing with Erik that they needed to get out from under the mob’s thumb as quickly as possible.
“One of my clients has her kid’s birthday coming up and she said she might use you, so hopefully she calls. I tell everyone I know about you.” Seda paced a step and turned around, snapping her fingers with a flourish. “What you need is more publicity.”
“We should be on the television again,” Erik agreed, seeming to like Seda a little better now that they both had the same outlandish ideas. “Don’t you think that interview helped?” he asked Audrey.
It had helped for a few days, she was sure of it. But then the mad rush had dissipated down to the steady flow they now got every day. She hated feeling ungrateful for the amount of customers they got, and it certainly wasn’t as if they weren’t constantly busy keeping the display stocked, but if they could get even a few more days of madness again, it would help a lot.
“Yeah, but that was just a lucky chance they found out about us,” she said. “It was probably because of those pictures of you Seda posted online. But you know that kind of hubbub dies down fast. And there’s no way I can hire a publicist.”
“Who needs a publicist when you have a loudmouthed friend with a cellphone?” Seda asked, making Erik laugh. She looked charmed by his sudden smile, as he was usually reti
cent around her. She moved his arm to the position she wanted, squeezing his fist closed. “Can you make a muscle?” she asked.
He did and she nearly swooned, causing Audrey to feel embarrassed again. She looked at Erik flexing his arm agreeably and felt a rush of warmth, not least of all brought on by his bulging bicep. Even though she’d been around him constantly for a week, and was always checking him out, she still never got used to his masculine beauty.
“That’s the stuff. That’s our first shot. Hey, can you wink?”
“No, don’t,” Audrey hurried to jump in. “That’s so cheesy.”
“Who doesn’t love cheese? Especially this kind.” She tilted her head toward Erik, the most scrumptious snack platter. “Come on, let us just see and then we can decide.”
He shook his head. “Audrey said not to,” he told her, crossing his arms in front of him.
Audrey still hadn’t told Seda that little part of the curse, and quickly told him he could if he wanted to, trying to make him understand the hyena-like frenzy that would descend on them if Seda found out he was bound to do whatever she said.
With a look of indecision, he finally winked one gorgeous blue eye. They both squealed and clapped.
“It’s adorable,” Seda said.
“It’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen,” Audrey yelped. “Do it again.”
Face turning stony, he had no choice but to do it again, wincing at their renewed shrieks.
“I’m not adorable or cute,” he said, but neither of them listened, already blocking out their homemade commercial.
The oven dinged and Seda took a few shots of the fresh and gooey chocolate chip cookies, made Erik flex his arm so more, wink a few more times, and smile.
“Really smile,” Audrey urged, starting to feel excited about their endeavor. He stood with a teeth baring grimace and she knew his true smile was heart melting and sweet. Knowing he’d have to since she’d framed it as a command, she caught his eye from behind Seda, trying to let him know how grateful she was to him.
His upturned snarl relaxed into a welcoming smile as he met her eyes, and she sighed.
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